Return to the Wild

Goal Setting Technology

Have you ever had a troubling task on your mind that you keep putting off and off until one day you write it on your list of to-do’s, then somehow you miraculously get the courage to accomplish it?

That is the power of goal setting technology that has always fascinated me. I say “technology” because there are special tricks and tools to getting the most out of your goals and life.

There are so many options and directions you can take your life every second, minute, and day. I can easily rest, watch TV, or go out an exercise at anytime of the day without ever accomplishing anything of significance all day long.

Without writing down what you want to see manifest in your life you will get whatever comes to you, or just what other people want. That is ambitionless and ineffective thinking.

Imagine you are sitting down at a restaurant. The waiter comes to your table and asks you what you want. But you don’t know. Hours pass while you are still at the table without an idea of what you want off the menu. So right before the restaurant closes, the waiter comes back to the table and gives you a plate of spoiled food that they would have given to the dogs. You didn’t order properly.

Without firmly ordering off the menu of the universe, you will be sent whatever. The universe doesn’t know what you want in your life because you haven’t ordered properly. Writing out a goal tells the universe what you want so that it starts lining up synchronicities for you.

When you ink it, you think it

The real battle in goal setting, which I find utterly fascinating, is the fight in actually writing the goal of what you want. Writing it on a sheet of paper is a five-second process. Yet, you know the second you write it down and acknowledge it as something you want in your life; the universe will start lining up synchronicities for you. Things will start falling into place.

David Wolfe

One of my favorite David Wolfe-isms is his “Have the Best Day Ever”. What he and others who constantly use “best ever” to describe things are actually doing is utilizing a goal setting technology.

Let’s say someone likes gardening. They want to have a good garden. So they right down the goal on a sheet of paper saying, “I want to have a good garden this year.” Unfortunately, that goal is selling the potential of the garden short.

Instead, if you take the goal and flip it over so that the universe decides what level that goal is going to reach, not just a “good” garden—but “I have the Best Garden Ever”, then a magical power is evoked. It takes the control out of you, and places it on the creator to discover what the best garden ever actually is. Ever has the infinite potential no other word has!

We don’t know what the best garden ever is. Maybe after writing that down and internalizing it you might come across free manure and stellar sunshine all summer!

When you believe it, you achieve it

Another helpful trick with goal setting is to write them in the present. I have a word file titled, “The Best Goals Ever”. See! I’m already blessing my goals as the best ever. Here are examples of my goals written in the present, don’t laugh, at least not that much. “I eat the best food ever” “I drink the best water ever” “I have the best friends ever” I have the best relationships ever” “I have the best communication ever” It can even be as silly yet effective as “I play the best NBA 2K11 ever”.

Where attention goes, energy flows

Goal setting allows us to drive energy into what we want instead of what we think we want. If you look back at your life, you will see that it fits together like a really good novel. You are a superhero. You can start writing your own novel the way you want it to unfold by creating goals (kind of like the titles of chapters in a book) that become your future. The universe responds to this and will decide in ways you can’t predict. It gets you out of your mind, into your being. This puts you in the now, the eternal flow. The universe is like a pin ball machine. It has little favorable blocks and accelerators that will guide you on the path towards your unlimited potential.

The Best Time Ever is Now!

When I wake up in the morning I write down what I can remember from my dreams, then review my printed list of goals and read them out loud. This really gives focus and drive to my mornings. Next, when I get to my desk after a glass of cold spring water, I write down my daily to-do list on my pocket notepad. Utilizing another goal setting trick, I title this list, “Things I am going to do”. It’s amazing how this allows a level of confidence to beat even the most unpleasant tasks like shaving.

I have one last little goal setting tid-bit for you cell phone users. I have this alarm set for 4:55 P.M. everyday that is titled: “Do it now, Do it now, Do it now”. This is a technique made famous by personal development expert Steve Palina. He says, “Whenever you feel the tendency towards laziness taking over and you remember something you should be doing, stop and say out loud, “Do it now!” I don’t always want to clean my room, but if I get the little text message and beep at 4:55 PM. Which is a time I seem to not be very busy at I just change tasks and do something productive that I had been meaning to make. Do it now is also good to repeat and repeat when you have to make an unpleasant phone call. The best time to tell someone you can’t go to dinner is right now. The best time is always now. The best time is always today. Tomorrow will never come. All we have is today. This moment.